Top 3 Diesel Sedans under $5000

#1. 1984-1989 Mercedes-Benz 300sd
This car is a Mercedes period. It is a bit old, but still looks good, got a little bit of power especially from the turbo. It's a five cylinder, and will last you a lifetime. Wish they made these in a 5 speed manual at least. Quality interior, quality engine just the way Mercedes was meant to be. Ranging from $1500-$3500. This car has been tested by Zsports Cars at 26 mpg avg, 32 on thehwy and 24 in the city.

#2. 1980-1983 Mercedes-Benz 240D
This car is a bad example of Mercedes luxury, it is pretty basic. But looking at other cars in this era in the same class, this one is 5 times better then the rest. The 240D has the 4 cylinder diesel engine which is famous for being name "the million mile engine". Only 68hp from production, so after about thirty only about 57hp left. Pretty slow, we tested the 4 speed manual. Nice interior, looks best in black. The black interior never gets old. The price for this car ranges from $1000 to $2000 at the most. This car has been tested by Zsports Cars at 28 mpg avg, 36 on the highway and 28 in the city.


#3. 1998 Jetta TDI
This car has bad styling, bad interior quality, bad paint job, considered it is a German car. The only thing that shows it's a German Car is the engine. Reported to get 40 mpg, but we haven't tested it yet so can't guarantee it. But based on the 300sd and 240d reports from other people saying they get 40 mpg, we can say that they are all a little bit over exagerating. It has an inline-4 engine and comes in a 4 speed automatic, or 5 speed manual. This car has not been tested by Zsports Cars, only word of mouth.

Diesel rush begins: VW Jetta TDI Officialy Out

Lovers of both fuel mileage and torque can finally rest easy, Volkswagen of America is now officially selling its 50-State-approved, clean diesel engine in either the Jetta sedan for $21,990 or Jetta SportWagen wrappers for $23,590. Equipped with the six-speed DSG transmission, both Jetta gets an EPA rating of 29 miles per gallon in the city and 40 on the highway. We expect to see better real-world numbers, though we're a bit wary of VW's advertising its alternate rating of 38/44 -- a number that is impossible to compare with anything else currently available. In any case, the $2,000 premium for the TDI engine will be lessened somewhat by the Fed's $1,300 tax credit which applies to either TDI model. Look for an early test of the oil-burner on these pages shortly.

Source: Volkswagen